When I was 8 I wished I was 12.
When I was 12 I wished I was 16.
When I was 16 I wished I was 25.
Even now at the age of 28, I wish I could be 35. My ordinary life of the present will surely be much more extraordinary by then, or so I like to believe. I think thoughts such as, “In just a few more years I’ll be making more money, changing more lives, and becoming more famous.” These thoughts aren’t unique to me are they?
Part of being human is overcoming the desire to be something we are not to instead embrace the reality of now.
Consider this common lesson: you cannot be given immense responsibility until you learn how to handle the small responsibilities well. I think this lesson translates to all different parts of life. It’s the reason you get a driver’s permit and are forced to drive a car with a parent/guardian for at least six months before the government will let you drive a car by yourself.
You have to learn how to succeed in the present in order to learn the lessons that will equip you for the future.
There’s a reason you and I believe our lives are fairly ordinary and there’s an ongoing desire for them to be something more. But how you get to that something more isn’t by pressing the fast forward button.
You become something more by embracing the ordinary now and pouring yourself into it.
There are lessons to be learned, experiences to be had, and the typical bumps and bruises along the way. All of this is what shapes you in order for your ordinary to become extraordinary.
I think Frederick Buechner was onto something when he said, “You enter into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary. Something you have seen a thousand times you suddenly see as if for the first time” (thanks to Ryan for the quote).
Pour yourself into the ordinary mundane.
